Egg Prices and Consumption Climb

Jonesboro, AR--Egg prices are up, way up. In fact, the price of eggs jumped up another nickle a dozen this week, even though as Americans, we are eating more eggs than ever before.

According to the United Egg Producers, we will eat nearly 255 eggs per person this year and that's 7 more eggs than five years ago. U.E.P. predicts we'll eat more than 70 billion eggs in 2003.

The egg producers are blaming this year's lust for the yolk on the low carb, all protein, Atkins Diet.

But the egg loving diet craze isn't the only thing to blame; recent epidemics wiped out chicken flocks, a new animal care program requires poultry houses to hold fewer chickens, and egg shipments to foreign countries are rising, all contributing to higher prices.

In fact, prices have been climbing steadily for the last 7 months, up nearly 40 percent from last May, the highest prices in nearly 50 years.

Egg producers believe the rising cost of eggs will eventually have a ripple effect on bakeries, restaruants, and companies that make egg based products like pasta and mayonaise.